Category

Artist

Fukumitsu Kiln

PotteryKurayoshi City, Tottori Prefecture

I’m a craftsman. I entered this field because I love to make things. The process from mizuhiki to firing with a kicking potter’s wheel is very hard work. color, balance, usability, and so on. I feel it every time I leave the kiln.

There are so many things we receive from the climbing kiln. Once I fire up the kiln, I cannot leave it even for a moment. Once the kiln is fired up, I cannot leave it even for a moment and throw wood into it as if the kiln is telling me what to do. Until the work is I am always thinking about how to pull it up, where to stop it, and how to expand it. This is always on my mind.
Once the clay is fired Once the clay is fired, it takes a long time for it to return to the soil. It is important not to waste the clay. It is our way of saying thank you to those who let us use the clay.

To finish the clay from the beginning to the end is my thought for the “children”. It is my desire for my “children. I hope that the vessels I bake up will be useful for your peaceful life. I will continue to work hard at my pottery, hoping that the vessels I will be firing will be of use to your peaceful life.

Kenji Kawamoto , Kei Kawamoto

Kokuzou Kiln

PotteryKurayoshi City, Tottori Prefecture

During the Meiji era, Yamamoto’s grandparents realized the high quality of pottery clay in the Funioka and Kazuwa areas of Kurayoshi City. With this in mind, they moved to the area and established their pottery business in 1983. Near Funioka, there is a historical mound from the former Hoki Province called “Kokuzou-san.” Inspired by the site, Shuji founded Kokuzou Pottery in 1975.
Gazing upon Mount Daisen every morning and evening, living with the same clay as his grandparents, completely wrapped up in the joy of pottery making, well-loved by those around him, Yamamoto fully embraces his nickname “Kokozou-san.”